The cable and satellite television industry provides customers with the ability to view a wide variety of television programming for a fee, usually paid monthly. Providing cable or satellite television programming is typically accomplished through a “set-top box.” A set-top box is a box of electronics that is connected between the cable or satellite television system and the user's television set. The electronics in the set-top box allow the user to receive the television programming from the cable or satellite system on the connected television set. Subscribers are provided with a set-top box when registering or subscribing with the cable or satellite television provider.
Set-top boxes are also conditional access devices which may allow the display of certain cable/satellite television programs only under certain conditions. For example, a set-top box can be programmed to provide access to specific premium channels if the subscriber pays an additional fee. Access to such premium channels can be restricted through the set-top box if the subscriber has not paid the additional fees.
However, a single set-top box will typically only allow one program to be viewed at a time. Consequently, if a household would like to be able to view two different programs on two different television sets, they have generally been required to purchase a second set-top box and pay twice the monthly subscription fee.
If faced with paying a second full subscription fee, most subscribers will decide instead to get by with a single set-top box and pay only a single subscription fee. This is true even through the subscribers would prefer to have the ability to watch multiple programs simultaneously. Thus, subscribers are actually purchasing fewer services than they really desire because the incremental cost of an additional subscription for a second set-top box is too high. Consequently, from a business model standpoint, many cable and satellite television system operators would like the ability to provide a household with a second set-top box so that multiple programming can be accessed simultaneously without having to charge two full subscription fees.
However, there are dangers to the system operator if secondary set-top boxes are offered at a reduced subscription rate. This danger arises from the potential dishonesty of customers who obtain services that are not properly paid for. For example, suppose the first set-top box within a household has a $40 per month fee and the second has a $10 per month fee. In such a case, a dishonest customer could purchase a second set-top box and give it to his or her neighbor who previously did not have the service. The result is that the provider is collecting $50 per month for service to the two households, when the provider should be collecting $80 per month for service to two separate households.
Moreover, in the past, there have been problems with the dishonesty of the installer: the person who sets up a set-top box when a subscriber first subscribes to the service. Methods exist to prevent an installer from dishonestly giving away cable/satellite service without registering the users of the service in the single set-top box scenario. However, if the installer is allowed to sell and set-up multiple set-top boxes in a single household, it becomes substantially more difficult to ensure that the installer is not dishonestly providing service to those who may be paying off the installer directly for such service.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for a secure means and method of providing multiple set-top boxes to a single subscriber without having to charge a full subscription fee for each such set-top box and while preventing secondary set-top boxes from being used to provide services to those who are not paying the appropriate fees.